Who I am

I'm 22 years old computer science student from Karlsruhe, Germany.

My Ubuntu story

My involvement

I've been using Linux since 2006 starting with Fedora Core. Then around a year later I switched to Ubuntu Feisty.After having packaged new upstream versions of several applications for a few friends and myself, I started contributing to Ubuntu in 2009.In May 2010 I have become a (K)Ubuntu member.

Last year I have fixed a fewbugs in the Ubuntu virtualbox-ose package and forwardedthemto Debian. A few weeks later I have been invited to join the Debian VirtualBox team. Since then I do all the packaging work directly in Debian and regularly merge it to Ubuntu. The Ubuntu-Debian diff of virtualbox-ose is now much smaller than it used to be, but there are some changes left that can't be integrated into Debian (e.g. the apport hook).

libstdc++5

The libstdc++5 package was dropped in Debian and Ubuntu karmic as it failed to build and was considered obsolete.

However some legacy applications still need it so it was reintroduced in Debian. The new package failed to build on Ubuntu so I sent a patch to Debian and later posted a sync request. Recently I pinged ScottK to approve the request to backport it to karmic and lucid.

SRU of libapache2-mod-fcgid

The version of libapache2-mod-fcgid in lucid contained a bug that truncated file uploads at 64KB.

I cherry-picked the bugfix from upstream and integrated it into the Ubuntu package: bug 573591

Things I could do better

I tend to be bit lazy when it comes to updating the debian/copyright file for new upstream versions.

Plans for the future

General

Keep contributing like I'm doing now and try to help new packagers (e.g. by working on the sponsorship queue and being more active in #ubuntu-motu).I'm also planning to do more packaging work in Debian. Right now I'm working on pushing my wormux package changes to Debian and then keep co-maintaing it in Debian.

What I like least in Ubuntu

Many bugs that are ignored for a long time. I think we should encourage users more to report bugs directly upstream as we often just don't have the resources to triage and forward the bug reports.

Comments

If you'd like to comment, but are not the applicant or a sponsor, do it here. Don't forget to sign with @SIG@.

Endorsements

As a sponsor, just copy the template below, fill it out and add it to this section.

JonathanRiddell

General feedback

Felix is a top rate packager, he needed no helping hand or pointing to tutorials but managed to dive right in packaging fiddly software like the Firefox KDE integration which involved working with upstream who are not set up to work with downstreams and doing coding. He should be a MOTU for sure.

DanielHahler

General feedback

I have sponsored a lot of uploads for Felix, mostly for virtualbox-ose. He did great work throughout and I was often surprised to find an upload from him waiting for sponsorship when triaging bugs. As a KDE user I am very happy that he joined the Kubuntu ninjas!

I remember pushing him to become a MOTU months ago already, and I am happy that he finally hands in his application, which I strongly support.

ScottKitterman

General feedback

I'm not sure how many packages I've sponsored, but it was quite a number. IIRC they've always been first rate. This application is overdue.

Specific Experiences of working together

There have been multiple times where I've asked Felix to look into problems and he's always been glad to pitch in and help out. Although not only a packaging issue, I recall in Lucid we were having problems with display control in KDE and he studied the problem in detail and came up with patches to fix long standing problems, packaged them, and also got the changes accepted upstream. In Universe, I've worked with him on fixing some FTBFS, which is definitely needed and his changes were always first rate and ready to go.

Areas of Improvement

I can't really think of any. I'd like to see him do more and have no hesitations about him having upload rights.

JonathanThomas

General feedback

I've sponsored several of his uploads. They are always very good and show great attention to detail. Felix knows how to package well and would be a great addition to the MOTU team.

Specific Experiences of working together

I sponsored quite a number of his uploads on the QtWebkit transition in maverick. I also sponsored a lot of his uploads for the kde4libs/cmake transition, where kdelibs5-dev stopped depending on cmake, making a lot of KDE applications FTBFS. In my opinion this demonstrates his focus on maintenance, making him an excellent candidate for MOTU. As an aside, he also knows C++, and has contributed patches to several Kubuntu coding projects, such as the Kubuntu Notification Helper and LibQApt.

Daniel Holbach (dholbach)

General feedback

Great work all over.

Specific Experiences of working together

Areas of Improvement

Benjamin Drung

General feedback

I sponsored a bunch of sync request, some merge requests, and some upgrades. He responded quickly on questions and improvement request, but in most cases there was nothing to complain about. I am glad to see him doing work in Debian and upstream. He has definitively enough experience to become MOTU.

TEMPLATE

== <SPONSORS NAME> ==
=== General feedback ===
## Please fill us in on your shared experience. (How many packages did you sponsor? How would you judge the quality? How would you describe the improvements? Do you trust the applicant?)
=== Specific Experiences of working together ===
''Please add good examples of your work together, but also cases that could have handled better.''
=== Areas of Improvement ===